Today’s Tarot: Five of Swords – June 19, 2008

Okay, so I’m being given the same cards because even though I’ve seen them, understood them, accepted them, the situation that brought them forth has yet to be resolved. I’m missing something. Something isn’t clicking into place. I’m stuck… stuck in a rut…. and it’s time I get myself out of this mess!!!

Yeah… the answer is clear. When I drew this morning’s Fairy Oracle, also a repeat card: “Letting Go”, I asked HOW to let go. This card offers that answer… let go by taking the focus off of self. Take the spiritual eyes off of the mirror and set them elsewhere. Quit focusing on how I feel (stressed, scared, worried) and try applying some compassion to other sources. In readings, I often tell others, “You must first give in order to receive because it’s what you put out that returns times three.”

Talking to self: Okay, kiddo, you’ve got the answers. Now APPLY them!

*NOTE: As I typed the above line, several crows flocked to the tree in my front yard, cawing their little heads off. I got up from my chair, looked out the window, and saw at least three of them in the tree. The moment I sat back down in my chair to record the event, the cawing stopped. Crow spoke to me on June 10th in a similar fashion, so I’m including this, too, as a repeat message that I’ve not yet applied. Click here to read Crow’s Message.

Let’s look at the five, first. When we see a number 5, we see in the middle, a little tiny stick. At the bottom, we see a big round belly, and at the top, we see a cap (a hat). That little tiny stick in the middle represents a sort of spiritual anorexia, or a dehydrated soul. The big round belly indicates our attempts to fill that hunger with outside sources, material objects, other influences. However, the cap at the top of the five is showing that we’ve closed ourselves off to Higher Powers, divine influences, or universal wisdom… Soul food! The message of the five is to stop trying to fill the void with outside objects, look inward at your True Spirit, recognize that it’s been ignored, and tap back into the universal flow of divinity and Higher Consciousness. (see how this card connects with the Fairy Oracle for today?)

Swords represent action and transformation. In this card, we see one man standing, holding three swords, while two other people drop their own swords and walk away from the situation. This shows that the Quarrent (person drawing the card) has been acting out of discord, selfishness, self-centerdness, and hasn’t been concerned with what’s best for the whole. As a result, those around him got frustrated, fet up, and decided it was in their own best interest to walk away from the situation.

This card reflects an “All about me!” syndrome.

It’s not a “fun” view of the Self, to realize you’ve slipped into a behavior pattern that has caused others to walk away hurt and frustrated with your actions – and as “sour” of a reflection as that can be, it can be a beautiful thing to see – because seeing it and being aware of it gives opportunity to correct and change the behaviors.

acting in your own self-interest
setting aside the concerns of others
looking out for number one
thinking of your own needs
knowing you must concentrate on yourself
encountering selfishness
indulging in power plays
gloating
going for the win-lose result

experiencing discord
being in a hostile environment
feeling people are set against each other
choosing to battle
having an “us-against-them” mentality
creating ill will
experiencing conflict

The Five of Swords is about self-interest. Society tells us to think of others, yet we resist. How we can ignore our own concerns and still survive? This dilemma comes from our definition of self. If we view our self as our personality/body, our interests become those that relate to that self. Do I have enough to eat? Am I happy? Do I have all I want?

We may expand our concern to those we love, but, then, how can we stop there? We are connected to everyone in the long run. In truth, our self is the world. What we do to that world, we do to ourselves. This understanding is so basic, but so infuriatingly easy to forget day-to-day.

In readings, the Five of Swords can mean that you or someone else is forgetting this larger view of self. You are defining your interests too narrowly. If you try to get ahead in isolation, your actions will come back to haunt you later, one way or the other.

Sometimes this card implies a need to put your own interests first. If you are being abused or taken advantage of, you must get free. If you are worn out by demands, take care of yourself. If it is your turn, step forward and claim your due. Just be aware that if you hurt others in the process, your victory will not feel complete.

The Five of Swords also represents hostility – from a cross word to warfare. When the cords that bind us are broken, we experience dis-cord. This card can signify dishonors that are fairly open. Cheats, lies, tricks, deceits, even crimes. You may be on the receiving end, or be the perpetrator. Either way, hold to a larger view of who you are. Find the solution that is best for everyone…including yourself.

FIVES
When trying to read the Fives, think of the Hierophant. The Hierophant represents a teacher, counselor, or priest, someone who advises people when they’re in trouble. Likewise, the Fives are unique cards in that each one seems to pose both a problem and an answer. After four fairly smooth cards of growth and development, the fives represent the fly in the ointment. Instability; the changes that make one humble and allow for growth.

Of the question asked of the Hierophant by a troubled supplicant, the problem is real world. The answer, however, appropriate to the Hierophant, is usually spiritual or at least pragmatic. Understand that all Fives temper the Querent – you go through the fire, the low points, the hard times, in order to come out stronger.

Five of Swords

A smirking young man gathers up swords won in battle from two losers. In arguments and battles of ideas there are going to be times when one just loses or has to surrender. The worst of these is when the winner is an awful person, a bully, braggart, a cheat, someone who used an unfair advantage to win. But it happens. The problem: “How can I win in an argument with this person?” The answer/prediction: “You can’t. All you can do is not argue.” This is the closest to a win one can come to in this situation. But if the Querent feels they must argue, then they need to be prepared to learn from it, not allow feelings of failure, anger or blame to overcome them.

*Notes: My own interpretation was pretty on target, although both sources indicate that the energy of this card could manifest in another person rather than Self, such as having someone else be dishonest or immoral against you, or finding another person argumentative and not being able to “win” against such an argument. I can see where that could come into play in these descriptions, but I have a natural resistance to those concepts. I’m more inclined to think the card reflects Self. Why? It’s one of the few cards that show more than one person in the image. Two of the people in the card are shown more in the distance with their backs turned. The third is up front, at a frontal view… you can see his face. Instinctively, that becomes the Quarrent to me. I’m not saying the other sources are wrong, and I might incorporate their “warnings” into future readings, but I’ve always learned that intuition should govern in Tarot, that there’s no right or wrong way to read the cards (as long as morals are in tact), and that if you “feel” a certain thing reflecting in a card, trust that feeling. For me, when I do readings, this card generally reflects the behavior of the quarrent, not an outside source.